1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a curing agent and a pickle which are used to produce a processed meat such as ham, bacon, roast pork or the like. More specifically, the present invention solves a problem of viscosity increase when transglutaminase is used in a pickle, and qualities of a processed meat such as ham, bacon, roast pork or the like are improved when the pickle is injected.
2. Discussion of the Background
Usually, ham, bacon or the like which is a processed meat is required to be cured by law (according to Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS)). As this method, a dry curing method and the method of curing in a pickle have been conducted. Recently, they have been mostly conducted by a pickle injection method. In the pickle used at that time, sodium chloride and color-fixing agents are main components. In addition, polyphosphates, different, proteins or the like are incorporated to improve yield, water-holding capacity, binding and the like, and seasonings, preservatives, coloring agents and the like are also incorporated.
Further, transglutaminase (hereinafter abbreviated as "TGase") has been lately incorporated at times in a pickle to improve texture, sliceability, i.e., yield of slice, and the like. In this instance, a serious problem is as follows. That is, a pickle, in most cases, is allowed to stand overnight at low temperatures after preparation in order to completely dissolve different proteins or to conduct defoaming through degassing, and is then used. However, there is a problem that when TGase is added and dissolved in this pickle, both TGase and different proteins are reacted while being allowed to stand, and the viscosity of the pickle is notably increased, making it impossible to conduct injection. Accordingly, in order to satisfactorily exhibit the function of TGase, it is necessary to control the viscosity of the pickle, i.e., in other words, to control the TGase reaction) . Thus, it is required that even when TGase is added and dissolved in a pickle, the reaction be controlled so as not to increase the viscosity, and the satisfactory effect by using TGase can be exhibited on a processed meat in which the pickle is injected.
To make processed meat which is relatively highly injected, different proteins at the level of 10% have to be incorporated into the pickle. The amount to be added varies depending on qualities of a processed meat required. Generally speaking, typically, soybean protein is between 1 and 8%, casein such as sodium caseinate or the like is between 0.5 and 3%, albumen is between 2 and 5%, and whey protein is between 2 and 5%.
When, for example, from 2 to 5 units of TGase are added to 100 g of this pickle as such, a crosslinking reaction to polymerize protein molecules by TGase proceeds over the course of time, and there occurs a problem that the viscosity of the pickle is increased, making it impossible to conduct injection. For this reason. the use of TGase in the pickle is greatly limited at present. To cope with this, a method is known in which TGase is used in such a state that the amount of soybean protein or casein such as sodium caseinate or the like is decreased in a pickle (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 255, 426/1995) . However, this method involves problems that since the amount of the protein is limited, the function of the protein is not exhibited satisfactorily and when a long period of time lapses after preparation of the pickle, the viscosity is increased, so that the period of time for which to use the pickle is limited.
Against the above background, an object of the present invention is to provide an excellent pickle in which, when incorporating TGase, the above-mentioned problems are avoided.